


Found, Again

by shankress



Category: Steven Universe (Cartoon)
Genre: F/F, spinearl, spinearl week
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-09-23
Updated: 2019-09-29
Packaged: 2020-10-26 22:27:42
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 15,954
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20749769
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/shankress/pseuds/shankress
Summary: Spinel arrives on Homeworld with the Diamonds and finds that things are not what they are expected to be.





	1. First Meeting

**Author's Note:**

> Mini-series contribution to Spinearl Week on Tumblr! Decided to connect all the prompts into one 6-part series. Hope you guys enjoy!

Today, right here, right now, she was found. Spinel truly believed it this time. There was no doubt in her mind that this was going to be a perfect new beginning for her as she was carried into the Diamonds’ Ship. 

Upon entering the ship, White Diamond raised her hands to let Spinel sit on her shoulder, to which Spinel caught it ahead of time and stretched her leg far off to place herself onto the shoulder of her new best friend. White Diamond fashioned a polite chuckle through her nose, still maintaining her professional stature as a leader. 

It remained silent during take-off. As they were whisked away into hyper-space, Spinel, not used to the intense velocity, stumbled a bit. She stretched her limbs to wrap herself around White Diamond’s arm to prevent from slipping away. 

“You’ll learn to get used to that,” said White, breaking the silence. 

Blue Diamond spoke up, right after. “Oh,” she said, “we’re so excited to have you along with us, Spinel. We can’t wait to show you what wonders await you in the palace!” She was so giddy, she could cry. Although, she tried to remember and respect what Steven had told her about crying and how it would affect every other gem near her. So, she held back her tears. 

“I do find that the extraction chamber will do you some good after a hard day of playing and stretching around,” Yellow Diamond chimed in. “Very exfoliating.”

"Yeah," responded Spinel with a smile, not really knowing what else to say after that. She was still pretty surprised that the Diamonds had accepted her so quickly. She didn't even have to try and fight for their approval, like she thought she would have had to do with anyone after how badly she had messed things up with Steven. They had enjoyed her company on the spot. She didn't really feel like she deserved it. 

Although, she, too, was excited as Blue had expressed and was ready than ever to finally be in her new home with new friends who would love her in a way she had never been loved before. 

Finally, some new friends to play with, friends who wouldn't leave her behind. 

After many moments of cruising through space, Spinel perked up at hearing White Diamond's voice. 

"There it is, Spinel," she said. "Welcome back home."

Spinel was caught in awe for a brief moment until a certain chill ran down her spine upon getting a real look at the planet in its entirety, something she hadn't gotten the chance to do upon taking off with the injector. The split in the planet had reminded her just how broken she was, almost just as broken as the planet had been. After a moment, she allowed herself to accept this, trying to find a sense of comfort in it. Yes, she was broken, but she wasn't defined by it just as the planet wasn't defined by it. No one can change the past or the damage that was done by the actions taken, but that doesn't mean that there can't be a remedy or redemption from it. She had known that, better than anyone, by now and, in remembering this, she began to find comfort in the broken planet. 

Finally, they had landed, scattering each piece of the massive ship in their designated parking areas ending with White Diamond's head. 

Exiting the ship, White Diamond left Spinel on her shoulder as they all transported in White's bubble to a part of Homeworld Spinel had only briefly passed by through a hallway before being sent to the garden where she had eventually met Pink Diamond.

The Diamonds had spent hours with Spinel, giving her a tour around the castle. They did not dare go anywhere outside of it, which was essential for the Diamonds, as far as Spinel understood. 

They had ended the tour with Pink Diamond's human zoo, which had been kept as it was given the fact that, even though the humans had no reason to be there anymore since Steven brought peace and understanding amongst the gem race, he had felt that they would feel more comfortable in their natural habitat with their traditions. 

"I keep this zoo maintained, personally," said Blue Diamond. "It helps me to feel a little better, knowing I could keep up something Pink had wanted. I feel a little closer to her here, even though she's gone.." 

Spinel had that prickle down her spine, once again, at the mention of Pink. She tried to ignore it. She could understand their grieving process as well as she could understand her own grief. Even so, Pink was the cause for her grief, not necessarily the subject of it. As messed up as it was for her to think it, she would have rather not heard of Pink again.

After finishing the grand tour and spending some time with her in the throne room and Blue Diamond's pool, the Diamonds brought Spinel to the room she would be staying in. 

There was something oddly satisfying, yet disturbing about being given Pink's old room, as well as coming to terms with the fact that this was going to be the first time she had been left alone since being in the garden. Although, she had supposed it was ideal since she  _ was _ a last minute change in the original plan for Pink's son to inherit the room and she was going to have to get used to the fact that she would be left alone from time to time and it would be okay. This was  _ her _ room now, no matter who it belonged to or who was supposed to get it and she understood that there were perks to come with being left alone, every once in a while. 

Above all, she was home. 

"We hope you find everything to your liking," said White Diamond. "The Pebbles left the room as it was when Steven was last here, but if you would like anything to be changed, they should be able to accommodate."

"Yes," said Yellow. "Be wary of them. They're all over the place." 

"We'll see you very soon, Spinel," said Blue with a reassuring smile. 

Spinel smiled in return, stretching her legs up to reach the Diamonds and her arms to fit around all three of them. 

"Thank you, thank you, thank you," said Spinel, unable to contain her elation. She collected herself and cleared her throat, bowing her head and giving them the salute of their kind. "My Diamonds."

Yellow laughed, "Oh, please, Spinel. You don't have to be that way with us." 

"You're one of us now," said Blue. 

They all took a bow before her as she stood with a stunned expression on her face, which then formed into a grin before the Diamonds found their way out. 

As the door closed behind them, Spinel held onto her grin and was so filled with excitement that she began to jump and do stretched out back flips around the room until she made her way to the balcony and landed with her elbows placed at the edge as she gazed down upon the empire. 

She was so happy, she could sing about it. For the first time in thousands of years, she was beginning to regain that hopeful feeling she had long since let go of. Nothing could ruin this perfect moment for her. Everything was okay, now. She was at peace. 

After many moments of admiring a portion of the unseen parts of her home planet, Spinel unwound herself as she plopped down on her new bed with a relaxed sigh. She stared up at the ceiling for a little while until she saw something come out from a sudden small opening in the wall beside her. 

She furrowed her brows and shrugged it off, for now. 

Then, it happened again. 

Spinel stared at the spot, fixing her eyes on it, until it happened again. 

Pebbles. 

They started to appear all around her from holes in the wall and the ground that they, apparently, we're creating. She noticed how they started to construct little towers around her to meet her height. 

"Hello," she told them, suddenly fixed in the curiosity as they began to build small towers in the room. "Did you build everything in this room?"

They didn't respond directly, to her. They only started chattering amongst themselves. 

Spinel brought herself down to their level. "I love what you've done with the place," she said to them with a small smile. She could tell they were expecting Steven and not her to show up. 

"Uh… I'm Spinel. Sorry I'm not what you were expecting, but I promise I'm friendly." she tried reaching out a finger to greet one of them, but they reacted in fear and retreated back beneath the surface. Soon enough, the rest of them followed. 

Spinel let out a frustrated grunt, realizing that not everyone would be as friendly upon first glance as the Diamonds were. 

She, then, heard a knock at her door. 

"Come in," she told them. 

Entering the room was a Pearl that had Spinel stunned where she stood. This Pearl was pink, like her, like her former best friend. The first other pink gem she had seen, besides Pink and herself. She had a crack in her eye, like her form was damaged, but not enough to have poofed her. She figured this was because she had once belonged to Pink, but something must have happened to her that got her replaced with the Pearl back on Earth with Steven. 

She didn't know why, but, for some strange reason, she began to feel nervous around this Pearl as if there was something about her that made her feel like she couldn't control the tremble in her fingers or the impediments in her speech. 

"Uhh.. Wh- Hi! Name is my Spinel er.. Sorry haha…" She cleared her throat then twisted her arm in a Spiral from where she stood to extend her hand out to the Pearl and greet her. "Nice to meetcha! I'm Spinel and you're a Pearl- I means... And you… are… a Pearl." She slapped her free palm to her face, mumbling "Sorry," underneath it. 

The Pink Pearl ignored her extended hand and bowed before her. "Forgive the intrusion, dear Spinel. The Diamonds sent me to make sure I could take care of anything you may need or answer any questions you may have."

Spinel was a bit surprised, given how the Diamonds had informed her that each gem was now free to do as they please, equal to every other gem. "... But I thought... " she began, but couldn't form the words. 

"Yes," she responded, already knowing what she was going to say. "Us Pearls are now free to live our lives freely and equally amongst other gems, however, it is with great loyalty and grateful servitude that we still answer to our Diamonds when they are in need of assistance."

"Alright," responded Spinel. Then, it stayed quiet for a few moments before she realized that the Pink Pearl was waiting for an answer. 

"Oh. Uh…" Spinel had so many questions, many began to form as she allowed herself to revel in the thought, but she could only fully form few into words, which the Pink Pearl was happy to answer, although her blank expression didn't show it. 

"Is there anything else?"

Spinel snapped out of the daze she was in, half paying attention to the answers she was being given as she was distracted by the physical similarities of pigment in the Pearl and how it correlated with Pink, causing her to revel in the thought of her. 

"Oh, I uh… guess that's it." Spinel looked away, pensively, trying to form another question or any other reason to get the Pearl to stay. For some reason, she lost the comforts of being alone as soon as they'd come. 

Although, the Pearl bowed and said, "I'm happy to be of assistance," before leaving and, as the doors closed behind her, Spinel's forced grin had faltered into a desolate frown as she had fully felt the same wave of loneliness from the garden wash over her.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I was camping out at a music festival over the weekend while writing this so I pretty much rushed through this chapter but there is much more to come so stay tuned!


	2. Past

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Spinel has social anxiety.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Day 2 of Spinearl Week!!

Somehow, Spinel actually found sleep. Although gems didn't require it, she felt it was a rest long overdue and well deserved. 

She didn't dream, but she felt herself even more relaxed as the void of darkness underneath her eyelids provided her the sentiment of a good night's rest. 

Then, she woke up when she heard a knock on the door. 

"Come on in," she said, a sudden incomprehensible excitement buzzing through her. 

It was the Pink Pearl, again. 

"Ha-Hello again," she stammered, giving a small wave from her bed. 

"Forgive me if I woke you," she began with a curtsey, "The Diamonds have asked me to collect you and escort you to the throne room. They’re having a celebration for your arrival." 

“A celebration? For me?” 

The Pink Pearl nodded.

“Gee, I didn’t think I was _ that _important. Hah.”

Spinel, awkwardly, got up from her bed and went with the Pearl to the throne room/ballroom where she would find the Diamonds standing at the front of the dancefloor, by their thrones. 

The ballroom was much different than what it had been before. Steven had encouraged them to throw balls like a party. So, there were balloons and confetti cannons and even a fusion DJ taking care of the music as gems freely danced, without coordination. 

The Diamonds seemed more comfortable to be standing aside and spectating from where they were, but at least they were making an effort and being away from their thrones. 

They greeted Spinel as she approached them. She delivered a bow and greeted them in return.

“We hope you enjoyed your new room,” said White Diamond.

“I hope the pebbles weren’t too much of a bother,” said Yellow. “We, honestly, had no idea they were even there until Steven told us about them.”

“They… were actually afraid of me,” Spinel said, diffidently. 

“Oh,” responded Yellow. “Good, then.”

Spinel blinked a couple of times, not sure why that was such a good thing.

Blue chuckled. “Don’t worry. I’m sure they’ll learn to warm up to you.” Her smile gave Spinel reassurance. 

“So,” Spinel began, abashedly, “this is all… for me?”

“Ah, yes,” replied White. “Isn’t it… _ eeeewwwwonderful _ ?” As much as White was happy to have done what Steven had asked of her, she still had her reservations for the immense change in the gem society. Still, she tried to be cool about it. She continued, “Funny thing, being here where we are now, throwing a ball for _ you _ when Pink used to be the one to throw balls for _ us _.” She burst into laughter. Spinel failed to see the humor in it but responded, anyway, with a nervous laughter she tried to pass genuinely. 

She had her hands placed, comfortably poised, behind her back as she stood alongside the Diamonds and looked out onto the dancefloor. After a few moments of standing silent, White Diamond spoke up.

“Why don’t you go out and dance, Spinel? Enjoy the festivities. Mingle with the other gems. This is _ your _ball, after all.”

Spinel lit up and started making for the dancefloor, until she turned around and saw the Diamonds hadn’t moved an inch.

“You guys coming?” She turned her head around to them with hopeful eyes. 

“Oh… no.” Yellow tried to sound as pleasant as she could with her response without sharing their reluctance. “You go on. We’ll just stand by and enjoy the festivities from here.”

Spinel pursed her lips and turned her head back around to the crowd, looking around at all the other gems. She wasn’t so sure how to approach anyone anymore, not in her current state. She couldn’t exactly go straight back to the innocent and care-free manner she once had. If she still had the rejuvenator, she might have just reset herself all over again just to make it easier for her to approach people. 

Endless unanswerable questions ran through her head. What if she said the wrong thing? What if they didn’t like her? What if Pink was right to have abandoned her? Was she really that annoying? Was she _ still _that annoying? Was she even worth anyone’s time?

Spinel closed her eyes and inhaled, deeply. As she blew out her exhalation, she opened her eyes and by then, had herself convinced that she wouldn’t know the answers if she didn’t make an effort. So, she made her way into the crowd. 

Looking around, she didn’t find any opportunities to jump in and start a conversation with anyone. Everyone seemed to be preoccupied with something which, she supposed, was part of the process. Still, she didn’t want to seem a bother, so she tried to take her baby steps, looking for any lonely bystanders. 

The only gem she could see that seemed to fit that description was the Pink Pearl who had escorted her to the ball, the first and pretty much only other gem she knew in the room, aside from the Diamonds. She seemed lost and distracted, almost uncomfortable. Maybe, she was also looking for people to approach. Spinel decided to make the first move. 

“Hiya!” she waved from mere inches away. 

“Oh, hello,” said the Pearl, startled. 

Spinel stretched an arm over her and lifted herself off with the other, saying, “How’s it hanging?” with a giggle.

The Pearl didn’t really react. She only stared with a nervous look on her face, responding with, “Um… fine.”

Spinel wound herself back into place, awkwardly placing her hand behind her head and looking off to the side with some more nervous laughter. “Yeah, I guess that one gets pretty old.” Was she already failing at this? She didn’t know what else to say. 

“So, uh… what do they call you besides ‘Pearl’? I bet with all the other Pearls running around, it must get pretty confusing, huh?” Was that even a necessary question to ask? Why did she ask that? 

The Pearl, still appearing distracted, looked back to Spinel and said, “Well… traditionally, we were all just known as Pearls, that is until Steven decided it would be easier to identify us by any features that made us stand out. In my case, I’m known simply as Pink Pearl.”

“Well, I guess that makes you Double P, in my case,” Spinel threw her best finger-guns to back up her joke, if she could even call it one. She was definitely a bit rusty, which she figured Pink Pearl could tell when she didn’t react, looking uncomfortable as ever. 

Spinel had several negative thoughts running through her head at that point, every voice telling her to stop what she was doing and that she wasn’t wanted. She started feeling her body tremble again and spoke with utter anxiety in her speech. 

“‘Cause I uh… got a thing… for nicknames…” She trailed off. She didn’t even know where she was going with that. Pink Pearl didn’t seem to be looking back at her or giving her any further attention, so she began making her way back to the Diamonds, awkwardly stumbling away. 

“I’m gonna… go back there… see ya on the flip.” With that, she back-flipped a long stretch directly back beside the Diamonds and sighed, feeling like she had made a complete fool of herself. 

“Having fun?”

Spinel looked up beside her to see Blue Diamond looking down at her.

“Uh… yeah. Loads.” She lied. 

“We’re so glad. Everyone seems to have enjoyed themselves more since we changed the tradition of balls, although _ Pink _used to throw the most wonderful balls when she was here. We’re not sure we could compare to them.” 

There it was, again. 

“Ah, yes,” said Yellow. “Remember those silly comments she would make to the Jades?”

“Oh, yes!” Blue Diamond laughed. “White was _ furious _. She almost went red!”

Spinel thought if she could do something to distract them from the conversation, she could have them change the subject. 

“Hey, guys,” she called. “Look at this!” She took her right hand and grabbed her left wrist as her entire left arm stretched out to the floor and she started using it like a jump rope.

The Diamonds laughed, joyously, at her performance. 

“Oh, Spinel,” said White Diamond, “You truly are quite the harlequin.”

“You remind us _ so _much of Pink,” said Blue. “We simply adore you.”

What Blue had said sent an unfathomable shudder through Spinel’s form. Yes, she reminds them of Pink. Yes, they wanted to adore her. They went through the whole bit. She wondered why they had to keep reminding her. 

Every other sentence from there was ‘Pink’ this and ‘Pink’ that. Every move she made to try and get them off the subject only encouraged them to speak more of her and continue to compare her to Spinel, be it her color, fashion, form. After a while of this, she felt like she her form was ready to spontaneously combust and retreat back into her gem.

Finally, they managed to change the subject and Spinel was calm again. 

Then, Blue spoke to her again.

“So,” she began. “Did you get to mingle the any of the other gems?”

“Just one,” replied Spinel, cutting the response short, not wanting to relive the awkward conversation that ensued. “A Pink Pearl.”

“Oh, Pink’s old Pearl!”

At that, the subject of conversation went straight back to Pink. Spinel couldn’t take it anymore. She needed to get away from the conversation, but she also didn’t want to humiliate herself again, trying to interact with any of the other gems. She needed an escape from here. She needed to run. 

Without warning, she bolted straight back to her room, which was the only place she knew she would be alone, even though every trace of it brought her back to the thought of Pink. She didn’t care. She needed to be alone. She needed to feel okay, being alone.

She breathed heavily as she entered the room. The door slid closed behind her and she leaned back against it, continuing to heave breaths that ranged from exhaustion to panic. 

She let her form slide down until she reached the floor and curled up with her knees to her face and her arms wrapped around them. Burying her face in her arms, she started to cry again, like when she was reset and it was all flooding back to her at once, all over again. She tried to collect her thoughts as they had come: She was left behind, but she was found. She was alone, but now she’s not. Pink was her best friend, but Pink was gone. 

Pink was gone.

Pink was gone.

Pink was gone.

As she continued to try and ease her troubled mind, Spinel felt something touch her arm. 

She looked up and saw a Pebble, standing over a tower it had made to meet her height, looking back at her. Moments later, more Pebbles started to appear from openings made in the ground and all over the walls. They all made their way toward her, appearing to be cautious, but compassionate to her current state. 

“Wowza,” she said, sniffling, her voice cracking. “I guess you guys respond well to tears, huh?” She reached out her finger to the Pebble still standing on its tower and it reached out its stubby little hand to meet it in their first formal greeting. 

Suddenly, she felt the door open behind her, very quickly, and the Pebbles scattered as Spinel fell on her back. Looking up, she saw Pink Pearl looking back down at her, now with a placid look on her face. 

“My apologies, dear Spinel,” said Pink Pearl as Spinel brought herself up, “The Diamonds sent me to make sure you are alright. They noticed you had slipped away from the festivities and wanted to know what was troubling you.” 

Spinel brought herself up and stood before her. She had no intentions of speaking her mind. She couldn’t exactly tell the Diamonds how much she resented the one they had missed so dearly. She couldn’t exactly find a casual way to tell them not to speak of her because of how the mere mention of her made her feel. Even with the liberation of all gem kind, she couldn’t say such things to the Diamonds. 

Spinel stared at the Pearl who stood, calm and collected, waiting for her response. She wasn’t trembling anymore. She didn’t feel like she would miss a beat or stutter with any word she’d say anymore. She stared at this Pearl and she decided to flip the script on her.

“You were _ hers _, too, weren’t you?” Spinel hadn’t known for sure until the Diamonds mentioned it. When she was first formed, she knew her purpose and stood in front of the Diamonds, absent of Pink, who had confirmed that purpose for her before she was escorted by a different Pearl, the Pearl who now lived on Earth with Steven, to the garden where she stayed waiting for Pink, time and time again, coming back and forth, until the last time she went forth but never came back. She had never met this Pearl, however. She never even had any idea that Pink had lost a Pearl. She started to think as she continued to stare that, maybe, that’s why she was created; to help aid the loss of this Pearl. 

Pink Pearl’s white cheeks went to match her main color. She knew exactly what she meant by what she was asked, but didn’t want to touch on the subject. 

“I don’t know who you’re talking about,” she said, but Spinel couldn’t be fooled anymore. She saw right through it, but still decided to play along.

“You know… _ Pink Diamond _,” she clenched her teeth as she said her name. She almost couldn’t even bring herself to say it.

“Oh… Yes… Yes, I was.” Pink Pearl knew exactly where this was going and knew she couldn’t dodge it anymore, so she figured she would break the ice. As inappropriate as it may have been to do so, she decided that she may as well finally confide in someone about it, even if it was a stranger. Maybe then, she could get the Spinel to open up, too, so she could do as the Diamonds _ really _requested and find a way to bring her back to the festivities. 

With a sigh, she proceeded to speak, “I was practically _ made _ for her. We used to have so much fun together, mostly behind the Diamonds’ backs. One day… she threw a ball. She was in _ agony _ . All she wanted to do was have a little fun. That’s all she wanted… but the balls worked differently back then... and she did something she wasn’t supposed to: She danced. She got up from the throne she was supposed to stay sitting on and she brought me along with her so we could dance together. It was crazy and reckless and very, _ very _inappropriate… but it was fun. Then, the Diamonds started to reprimand her and she actually, finally took a stand, making a scene in front of the entire court. Though, in the process she had also gone to admit all the fun we were having when they weren’t looking which, I guess, came as no surprise to them. The next thing I know, I see a white light and then…” She paused, bringing her hand to her damaged eye. “After that, I have no recollection of anything. There was nothing there until I woke up and was missing an eye and the first person to greet me wasn’t Pink, but someone else. Someone I’d never seen before. Someone I later came to find would be…” 

“... her son,” Spinel helped her finish. “Yeah. I know how _ that _ must be. I mean what even is a ‘ _ son _’, right?” Spinel let a sigh escape her as she looked to the ground. When she looked back up to Pink Pearl, she pointed over to the couch and asked, “You wanna come sit down?”

Pink Pearl didn’t know how to respond to that. She knew they both had to go back soon, but she also knew, as a free gem now, she was able to take some liberties. So, she sat with her. 

“I…” Spinel began, a bit hesitant to speak, now understanding why Pink Pearl seemed so uncomfortable at the ball. “I was _ actually _ made for Pink… to be her best friend and to make her happy. I never knew _ why _ , exactly, but, as we know, us gems aren’t meant to question anything, just follow through. I guess she must’ve been feeling something awful when I first got to meeting her, but I never thought to ask what it was. All I could think to do was whatever I could to make her feel better and it worked for a while… until, one day, I guess it didn’t. I just wasn’t enough for her anymore. She wanted _ more _ . She _ always _ wanted more. She always wanted to have what the Diamonds had, as if that would make her more important. As if that would change the way they saw her and treated her. As if she just _ needed _to have a colony to call her own…” 

Spinel stayed silent for a moment, not speaking a word, not changing the dark, hopeless expression on her face. She just stared down to the ground before her as she sat with her hands beside her, grabbing onto the edge of her seat. Then, she proceeded to tell Pink Pearl exactly what had happened between her and Pink and how that experience made her feel whenever she heard any mention of her. 

“It just… hurts, y’know?” She stayed looking toward the ground. “...when you keep hearing about someone who did you dirty, being praised and remembered as this ‘amazing, wonderful’ person and… I dunno maybe she was and maybe… maybe I miss her, too, but-” 

She stopped when she felt Pink Pearl’s hand on her own as it was now tightly grasping at the edge. 

“I know,” said Pink Pearl, placing her other hand on Spinel’s shoulder, genuinely starting to sympathize with her. “I know how it must hurt.”

Spinel loosened her grip and turned her head to look at Pink Pearl who continued to speak. 

“It’s not easy to just forget something like that. It’ll take 6000 more years of being free to make up for 6000 years of being alone and maybe not even then…”

Spinel proceeded to fold her hand over that of Pink Pearl, feeling herself begin to tremble again.

Pink Pearl continued, “I’m sorry that happened to you. You must have been waiting there for most of your existence. What a cruel thing. I never would have imagined she would be capable of even doing such a thing.”

“Yeah, well, neither did I, but everyone else I came across seemed to have expected that of her except for the Diamonds. So, I guess I’m not the only one she did dirty.” She scoffed, shaking her head. “6000 years of freedom after that will _ definitely _ not erase that fact, nor the fact of what 6000 years of loneliness did to me. I became something _ bad _ . I _ hated _myself, but it felt good to take out my pain on those who got to enjoy all that time with her while I stayed, withering away with the rest of the world she left behind.” She was squeezing the Pearl’s hand at this point. Pink Pearl could only look on with her sympathetic gaze as she nodded in understanding and continued to hear her out. 

“Well,” said Pink Pearl, “You’re a better gem, now. You made the choice to _ be _ better. You aren’t defined by who you were _ or _ the hand you were dealt. All you can do is move on. All _ we _can do is move on. Although, we can’t erase what was done in the past, we can look at what waits for us in the future and follow that.”

Spinel loosened her grip again and, with an act of impulse, placed her other hand over that which was already holding her own. She looked up at the Pearl and smiled a reassured smile. 

“I don’t know about you,” she said, “but I think I’ve had enough of stumblin’ around a crummy ol’ shindig, and I gots the feeling that balls aren’t yer thing, either.” 

Pink Pearl looked at Spinel with a reluctant look on her face. This was exactly the kind of rebellious behavior that got her into the trouble she had faced with Pink…

… but this wasn’t Pink, and she couldn’t help but laugh at the wink that Spinel had given her. 

“Okay,” she responded. “Let’s go.”

“Heck yeah!” With that, Spinel grabbed Pink Pearl’s hand and they both rushed out the door. “We’re blowing _ that _popsicle stand!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> protect my babies!


	3. Hijinks Ensue

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The two gems let themselves get a little carried away with their fun.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 3rd day of Spinearl Week!!

The two gems raced through the halls, laughing cheerfully as they ran together. The halls were empty aside from an Agate they had passed, to which Spinel pointed to Pink Pearl, who was holding her hand as she pulled her through the hall, and said, "She's escorting me!" They both continued to laugh and run through the halls.

Eventually, Spinel stopped at a window. When she looked outside she could see the human zoo orbiting a nearby planet in the distance. Pink Pearl joined her. 

“When the Diamonds took me to the zoo,” Spinel said, “I only got to see part of it through the glass window underneath us.” How fascinated she was when they showed her. Though, they wouldn’t dare enter it, Spinel got to catch a glimpse through the window on the floor. It reminded her so much of the garden with all its life and flowers. Though, she wouldn’t dare want to go back to the place she had remained for all those years. She saw something better in the zoo, something wonderful. “Wonder what the rest of it must look like.” 

“We can go take a look around, if you’d like,” said Pink Pearl.

Spinel’s eyes lit up. “Really?”

“I like to visit the zoo from time to time. The Diamonds allow me access because they empathize with me in losing Pink and I suppose it’s their way of making up for what was done to me. I usually have a Ruby guard escort me on her ship.”

“No way.” Spinel raised her fists to her chest in excitement. “Can we go now?”

Pink Pearl shrugged. “I don’t see why not.”

At that, they immediately found their way to the Ruby guard Pink Pearl usually has escort her to the zoo. 

When they had arrived, Pink Pearl greeted the Amethysts and Holly Blue Agate that remained managing the zoo. Holly Blue insisted on escorting them to the door, but Pink Pearl told her that she had it from there and they proceeded to enter the zoo.

The whole place was a paradise. Spinel enjoyed every bit of it, almost losing Pink Pearl in the massive encounter. 

“This is amazing,” said Spinel, encountering some forget-me-nots growing in a bush. She picked one up and stuck it in her hair. 

As time passed, they managed to get friendly with the humans who ended up performing a celebration ritual, their own version of a party. One of the humans gave Spinel a lei whereas Pink Pearl received a flower crown. They danced together for a while. 

Soon enough, they made their way out and back to Pink Diamond’s palace, where they would resume running around the halls, going through all the other rooms that were lined up in the hall. Each room served a different purpose, whether to benefit the Diamonds or to hold extracurricular activities for the gems now that they were free and didn’t have to cater to what they were originally made for. 

They went through almost every room in the palace, Spinel even more filled with awe and wonder as she saw just how much fun it was, going through each of the rooms. 

Spinel paused when they were passing a different hallway, going in a direction left of them. Curious, Spinel asked, “What’s down  _ here _ ,” pointing down the path. 

“I’m not sure, actually,” Pink Pearl responded. “I’ve never seen anyone walk through there before.”

“Wanna check it out?” 

Pink Pearl hesitated. There was something odd about the placement of this hallway. She wondered how she hadn’t noticed it before. Although, she was beginning to grow just as curious as Spinel. “Sure,” she told her.

As they walked down the hall, it started getting darker, much more grim. A reluctant feeling kept poking at Pink Pearl as she walked alongside Spinel who seemed to grow more curious with every step they were taking. 

They stopped at a door. It was the only door at the end of the hall and it was very tall and wide, taking up the entire wall. 

Pink Pearl was beginning to get genuinely terrified. “This wasn’t here before,” she said, looking back behind them. “None of this was.” She noticed the logo above the key-pad. “This is from Era 2. I wasn’t around for that.” 

“What do you think is in there?” Spinel placed a hand on the door, moving her gaze up its entirety. 

Pink Pearl saw her curiosity grow. Something about the way Spinel’s eyes lit up when she got excited about something made her weak and, before she knew it, her reservations about coming down this path dissipated as she felt the sudden urge to feed the curiosity that was now awakened in both of them. 

She went to unlock the door and noticed the code was different that the rest of the doors. Rather than inputting a code or pressing a button, she needed to display proof of identity. 

“That’s strange,” she said. “This one is different. It won’t let me input a code. It’s asking for ‘proof of identity’.”

“What does that mean? Only the Diamonds can access it then?” Spinel scoffed. “Lame.”

Pink Pearl stared, pensively, at the key-pad with her knuckle to her mouth in thought. 

Spinel began walking away, saying, “Guess we gotta ditch this one,” until she heard the doors opening behind her and turned to see Pink Pearl having her gem scanned from an opening beneath the key-pad. 

Pink Pearl looked up at the door, then to Spinel and said, “Shall we?”

Spinel grinned and ran inside with her. 

The first and only thing they saw upon entering was a massive yellow bubble floating right above their heads. The bubble contained a cluster of gem shards that appeared to be molded together. 

“What  _ is  _ that,” Spinel asked. 

“I have no idea,” Pink Pearl replied. “I’ve never seen anything like that before.”

Spinel stretched her legs higher up to get a better look at it. “Think she’s friendly?”

“I’m not even so sure that’s a  _ she _ . I’m not sure that’s even a  _ gem _ .”

Spinel peered her gaze at the bubble. It looked like a gem, but not quite. There was something off-putting about the structure of it. “What do you think it could be?”

Pink Pearl shrugged. “This is from Era 2,” she reiterated. “I was let in when it scanned my gem so I suppose when I was White’s Pearl, I must have been granted access, being that I was hardly myself and all...” She proceeded to pace around the room, examining the rest of its interior. “... but why would the Diamonds need to build an entire room for just one… whatever this is?”

“Dunno,” Spinel responded, “But I think that-  _ whoah _ !”

All of a sudden, Spinel felt she couldn’t control the movement of her legs. She ended up losing her balance and tumbling right on top of the bubble, which caused it to pop before she fell with the gem shards contained inside it. 

“Man,” she said, winding herself back together, “what was  _ that  _ all abo-”

She paused when she saw a human child standing before her, giggling. 

“How did-” Pink Pearl began to ask, but then saw that the cluster of gem shards were beginning to take form. 

There was no speakable way to describe the form. Its light only kept growing and growing until it formed something terrible, something not entirely normal at all. This form didn’t have a face or a head. Its four arms extended, two on each side, from its torso and it had three legs, two in the front and one behind. It was enormous. The two gems couldn’t believe what they were witnessing. 

The minute it was completely formed, it went charging for Spinel who created an enormous fist to punch it in the opposite direction. 

The child started to cry. 

Spinel tried to think and wondered just how strong this thing was. She got up off the ground and ran toward the creature who was already beginning to charge at her again. She stretched out her arms to wrap them completely around the creature and started to squeeze with every force of her being. She kept squeezing until the pressure from the squeeze got the creature to poof itself. She let her arms hang down for a moment before winding them back again. 

“So, not a friendly,” she said, heaving breaths. 

“We need to get out of here,” said Pink Pearl, grabbing hold of the child. 

They made their way out the door and made sure the door was sealed shut before taking to the halls. They figured most of the gems would still be at the ball so they weren’t all too concerned about being spotted with the child. 

When they reached the end of the hall they heard footsteps approaching at a rapid pace and hid behind the wall until Pink Pearl noticed who it was.

“Ruby?” She whispered. 

The Ruby guard who usually escorted Pink Pearl to the human zoo had turned around to see them and, in relief, said, “Oh, stars!  _ There  _ it is.”

“What is this human child doing here?” Pink Pearl continued to hold the child who was calm in her arms.

“I’m sorry!” the Ruby pleaded. “It must have snuck onto the ship, somehow.”

“How do you figure?” Pink Pearl was growing furious. Since the liberation of gem kind, the Amethysts were given longer breaks and they had apparently left the zoo earlier in the middle of one of them. She was mostly just furious at herself for not noticing the child slip away when it did. Humans were so unpredictable.

“I’m not sure,” responded the Ruby. “You know how likely it is for these things to happen since the Amethysts love to take advantage of their breaks. I’m surprised Holly Blue didn’t catch it. She catches  _ every  _ misstep.” 

Pink Pearl gasped. “But I dismissed her. I told her not to wait for us at the door.” 

“We’re so dead,” said Spinel. 

“No,” responded Pink Pearl, sternly, before asking the Ruby, “Did anyone see you?”

The Ruby shook her head, “No ma’am. Everyone’s still at the ball.” 

“Good,” she said, putting the human down. “I need you to take this child back to where it belongs, without being seen. Do you think you can manage that?”

The Ruby nodded with a grunt, then saluted her and grabbed the child’s hand who was about the same height as she was. 

“Shouldn’t we go back with her,” Spinel asked as the Ruby walked down the hall with the child, “Make sure nothing happens?”

Pink Pearl turned back to face Spinel. “She’ll be fine. Believe it or not, this isn’t the first time something like this has happened.”

Spinel giggled. “Those Amethysts must love their breaks.”

Pink Pearl rolled her eyes, “You have no idea. Holly Blue was even advised not to interfere with them anymore.” She grabbed Spinel’s hand. “Come on. Let’s go before anyone  _ does  _ see us.”

The two gems ran together back down the halls, trying to get as far from that hallway as possible. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, this one was a tough one to conjure. There's not too much of the Diamond palaces we get to see in the show, so I had to brainstorm a little bit. Didn't get to exactly get them to cause the trouble I had originally wanted them to cause, but it'll all come together eventually. Hope you enjoy!


	4. Dance

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Spinel and Pink Pearl return to the ball and find that there's more to gem-kind than meets the eye.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I had to take multiple breaks from how overwhelmed I started to get writing this chapter ok

The pair brought themselves back to the ball. Knowing they had likely messed up tremendously, they couldn’t take any chances. So, they decided to create an alibi of sorts and make it seem like Pink Pearl had just come from escorting Spinel back to the ball.

They walked into the ballroom, trying to blend with the crowd, when they were spotted by the Diamonds.

“There you are, Spinel,” called out White Diamond. 

Spinel was stopped in her tracks, her form tense and nervous. She turned around with the best forced smile she could conjure.

“Hello, hello!” She waved. 

“Is everything alright,” asked Blue Diamond. “We were all very worried about you when we saw you slip away from the ball.”

“Oh… yeah! Everything’s… peachy! Definitely no reason to worry at all about anything.” She laughed, nervously, stretching her arms into spirals as she waved them around, in an entertaining fashion to help with her ruse. She, quickly, grabbed Pink Pearl’s hand and said, “Gonnagobacktodancenowbye!” as she pulled Pink Pearl out into the crowd. 

Spinel could immediately sense Pink Pearl’s discomfort in being dragged out onto the dancefloor, once again. She had her head cast downward, clasping her hands together. 

“Hey,” Spinel said softly to her, separating her stiff hands as she took hold of them. “It’s gonna be okay.” She lifted Pink Pearl’s head up by her chin. “She can’t hurt us anymore.”

“I know,” responded Pink Pearl, looking back over to the Diamonds with a glowering expression. “It was never really  _ her  _ that I was worried about.”

Spinel looked over to the Diamonds as well, bewildered, almost angry, at what Pink Pearl had just said. She understood that it was Pink Diamond’s fault for what happened to both of them, but she didn’t really think to consider the differences in both of their stories until now. Why would she say that about the Diamonds?  _ Pink  _ was the one who acted out. Times were different back then and she should have known better, right? The Diamonds had only been nice to Spinel and treated her with utmost hospitality. They couldn’t be capable of being as cruel to the other gems as Pink was to her… 

… Could they?

Spinel stayed looking at the Diamonds, her bewildered expression now formed into one of concern; for her fellow gems, for Pink Pearl, and now, even for herself. What would they do if they found out about all the trouble they had just caused? Spinel let the thought dissipate after a moment. She didn’t want to conjure the possibilities. 

She collected her thoughts, trying to be considerate for Pink Pearl as she was trying to hold on to her vow of being a better gem and making up for her past indiscretions. Now wasn’t the time to debate or be in denial about it. Maybe, no time was. 

“Everything is fine now,” Spinel reassured her. “Times have changed. The Diamonds can’t punish you for having a little fun, these days.” She moved her shoulders back and forth with a giggle. “I mean just look around.”

Pink Pearl looked around the room to see more than half of the gems dancing together, Jades and Jaspers alike, Rubies and Sapphires and even some other Pearls. Spinel was right. Times really  _ had  _ changed. There was nothing to be afraid of anymore. She was safe.

She looked back to Spinel and smiled. “Thank you… for everything. I haven’t had this much fun in ages.”

There was something about the sparkle in her eye in that moment that had Spinel lost in it. Pink Pearl gazed right back, getting lost in  _ her  _ eyes. They held this gaze for a moment until Spinel finally thought to respond, still a bit lost in her eye, “Heh. Yeah… what else are friends for?” 

Pink Pearl was finally comfortable enough to dance, so she grabbed one of Spinel’s hands and placed the other on her shoulder. Spinel just stood with her free hand out in the open, not really knowing what to do with it.

“You gotta excuse me,” said Spinel. “I’ve, uh... never actually done this before.”

Pink Pearl giggled and said, “Here,” before taking Spinel’s free hand and placing it on her waist. Spinel watched her place her hand and then managed to get lost in her eye again when they both looked up at each other again. Spinel began to blush.

Spinel was stiff with her movement as she tried to follow Pink Pearl’s lead. She kept looking down to try and match each step with hers. It was… kind of working. 

“Nervous?” Pink Pearl teased, then laughed at the irony in the question.

Spinel started laughing, too, before Pink Pearl began to teach her the steps. She started slowly, but Spinel caught on quickly. Soon enough, they danced their way all around the ballroom, not realizing they were caught inside an open circular space left for them by the other gems as they watched on. The two gems laughed in their sentiment as Pink Pearl spinned Spinel around, causing her to spin like a top around the crowd circle before finding her way back to her dance partner as it began to close up, although, she may have made her way back too fast and almost had Pink Pearl fall over until she acted quickly and caught her in a formal dip. 

The adrenalin rush of the moment had them both stunned, looking at each other where they stood. For a moment, they had both, simultaneously, shared the same feeling. They had both ended up getting lost in the gaze of the other. There was a certain aura coursing through them both that they couldn’t explain the feeling of. 

Suddenly, their forms began to light up, changing shape, moving freely through the air, until one form of light met the other and merged into one, creating a single solid form by the time the light had dimmed. 

They weren’t entirely themselves anymore. They were no longer two beings sharing a moment. Instead, they were one being, one form, experiencing the moment alone...

… As someone entirely new.

The new gem opened her eyes as the song had ended, confused, dizzy, uncertain. She looked around the room and saw that everyone was shorter than she had imagined. She was up high… or very tall, she figured, when she looked down and saw the rest of her body standing over the dance floor. 

“What is this? What’s going on? What did we do? Did we do something bad?” She heard herself asking these questions out loud, though she didn’t realize it until they were spoken. 

The new gem couldn’t hear anything for a moment as the room fell silent. Still disoriented, she started to hear an uproar of applause coming from all around her. As her vision cleared, she turned to see three other gems her size bowing to the smaller gems who looked up at them, applauding. Starting to get more of a grip on herself and the people she was before, she came undone. 

Spinel and Pink Pearl both rubbed at their heads after plopping hard onto the ground. 

“Wh-What in the Homeworld  _ was  _ that?!” Spinel exclaimed, picking herself up. 

“I think…” began Pink Pearl, grabbing Spinel’s hand as she helped her up. “I think that was-”

“Man, guys, congrats!” An Amethyst nearly toppled on top of the two gems as she put an arm around each of them. “Your first fusion!” She patted them both on their backs before leaving back to mingle with her crowd.

“A what?” Spinel was still very shocked at what she had just experienced.

“There’s this traditional dance to celebrate fusion among two different kinds of gems,” Pink Pearl responded. “I didn’t think we’d actually participate, though. I’ve never fused before. I didn't think I'd ever even find that kind of connection with anyone. That was… incredible.” Pink Pearl was astonished. 

"I've never even  _ heard _ of fusion before!" Spinel was grabbing onto her pigtails. "I didn't know gems could do that!" She didn't know whether to be excited or concerned. "It was like I just… completely disappeared!" 

"I've only heard stories about it," Pink Pearl continued, still amazed at the experience. "It felt as if I was still dancing with you, but we weren't even there at the same time."

Spinel started stammering and stuttering, continuously, until she became so overwhelmed her entire form unwound all over the ground. 

"Oh," said Pink Pearl, alarmed, but realizing how new this all was to Spinel as it was for her, too. She giggled and held out her hand. "Come on."

Spinel wound herself up and grabbed Pink Pearl's hand as the next song played, a slow song. Pink Pearl showed Spinel how to slow-dance, telling her it was similar to the previous dance only she had both hands on her waist whereas Pink Pearl had both hands meeting around the back of Spinel's neck. 

They danced together for a moment, Spinel's cheeks meeting a hue that matched her hair as Pink Pearl smiled back at her. 

"You know something?” said Pink Pearl as she grabbed Spinel’s hand and continued swaying cheek to cheek with her, “This is probably the most fun I’ve ever had. I’ve really enjoyed these past few hours with you, Spinel.”

Spinel had closed her eyes when their faces touched, a tender smile forming on her lips. She felt so safe and comfortable with Pink Pearl. She couldn’t explain it. 

“Yeah,” she said, softly, opening her eyes with her gaze to the ground in thought. “Me, too.” 

She brought her vision up and found herself facing the front of the room where she could see the Diamonds still standing in the same spot as they conversed with each other while spectating the crowd among them. 

She looked over to them, apprehensively. An uneasy feeling kept stirring around deep within her form. She didn’t know why she was suddenly doubting them and their friendship, but, as the night went on, she found herself starting to overthink the concept of them once having been cruel leaders to their gems, as Pink had been cruel to her. She didn’t want to accept it, but, given the things she had been told and experienced tonight, she really didn’t know  _ what  _ to believe anymore. 

Suddenly, she saw someone approaching the Diamonds. She peered her gaze in utter perplexity, swearing she recognized this gem, until she realized where she knew her. It was the same Agate they had passed as they ran, boisterously, through the hall. She could see her calling up to her Diamonds who crouched down to meet her level. It wasn’t until she saw the Agate pointing in their direction that she had widened her eyes in disbelief.

“Oh, no,” she said, her apprehensions forming into that of genuine fear as the Diamonds met their eyes with hers in a grimly concerned gaze. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So I have this headcanon that Spinel has never been informed about fusion, given that she spent the majority of her existence in the garden, and since it was basically confirmed in the movie that the gems don't really remember anything from their reset selves until they start to get ahold of their final piece, (like when Amethyst was back and didn't react to Spinel until she saw her there) I thought "hey, maybe Spinel doesn't really know about fusion" so I thought it would be fun to input that here.


	5. Protect

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The pair run off to find somewhere to hide until they find themselves running right into more trouble.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 5th contribution to spinearl week!

“Oh, no,” said Spinel again, squeezing Pink Pearl’s hand as she met eyes with White Diamond in particular.

Pink Pearl brought her head back to look at Spinel as the slow song came to an end. “What’s troubling you?”

“Get ready to run,” Spinel said as she saw the Diamonds straighten up their bodies, getting ready to come toward them.

“What? Why?” 

The Diamonds began walking in their direction, and Spinel quickly took the hand of Pink Pearl that she had been squeezing and pulled her away from the dancefloor, making her way out of the ballroom with her.

“Where are we going?” asked Pink Pearl, utterly confused. 

“We have to find somewhere to hide,” said Spinel. 

They ran through the hall, once again, trying to find a room to hide in, until Pink Pearl stopped, letting go of Spinels hand. She had noticed something odd about the hall they had entered before. 

A strange, distinct beeping sound was heard echoing down the hall. Pink Pearl followed it down the hall. Spinel followed behind. 

The beeping sound came from the key-pad as it kept flashing red. The door looked as if it had been pried open and incredibly damaged on each side. 

The pair walked inside and widened their eyes upon realizing the poofed up cluster of gem shards were nowhere to be found in the room. 

“We have to go find it,” said Pink Pearl. 

Spinel nodded, firmly, and ran with her down the dark hall. 

The pair had reached the end of the hall, trying to figure out which direction they should head to look for it, hoping it hadn’t gone as far as the ballroom. 

Suddenly, they heard screams coming from the studio room where Yellow and Blue Diamond’s Pearls usually held their broadcast series. They ran as fast as they could toward their cries.

When they had reached the room, they saw the creature as it had been terrorizing the two frightened Pearls, Yellow’s Pearl cowering behind Blue’s Pearl as Blue’s Pearl kept looking for things to use against it. 

“Hey, you!” Spinel yelled to the creature. 

The creature turned around and belted out an unexpected roar at her. Spinel simply laughed and said, “Alright, you pieces of gem,” as she enlarged her fists and stretched out her arms in a fighting position. “Let’s dance.” She fashioned a determined grin as she began fighting the creature. 

Pink Pearl watched on momentarily before turning to look at her fellow Pearls.

“Are you both alright,” she asked them. 

Blue’s Pearl opened her mouth to speak until she was interrupted by Yellow’s Pearl who came from behind her, yelling, “It was  _ you two _ , wasn’t it?” She pointed at Pink Pearl in accusation. “ _ You _ are responsible for this!  _ You  _ let this creature run loose!”

“Yeah, yeah,” said Spinel, struggling to fight the creature. “We can toss the salad of blame later.” Spinel kept trying to dodge the hits. “For now though, do either of you have any idea what this thing even  _ is _ ?”

“ _ I’ve _ never seen that thing before in my life,” claimed Yellow’s Pearl.

In a panic, Blue’s Pearl blurted out, “It was supposed to be a match for Steven!”

Furrowing her brows as her hit sent the creature back a few steps, Spinel looked over to Blue’s Pearl with a puzzled gaze. “What?!”

“Spinel, look out!” Pink Pearl saw the creature beginning to charge right back at Spinel. However, Spinel was too distracted at the moment from that response that she hadn’t moved quickly enough to see the creature raise all four of its fists in preparation to throw a heavy blow. So, not seeing any other choice in the matter, Pink Pearl shoved Spinel out of the way, taking the hit…

… and getting herself poofed in the process. 

“No!” cried out Spinel, reaching her hand out as she saw Pink Pearl’s gem drop to the floor. 

The creature stayed still for a moment, recovering from the force it had exerted. Yellow’s Pearl took the opportunity to begin running towards the exit. 

“I must go tell the Diamonds!” she exclaimed, causing the creature to notice her and begin charging at her until Spinel punched it out of the way with a stretched out arm and enlarged hand, using the other arm to coil around the escaping Pearl, binding her still. 

“Oh no, you don’t,” said Spinel, squeezing her grip. “You’re not going anywhere.”

As the creature began charging at Spinel this time, she said, between tightly clenched teeth, “I’m getting  _ real  _ tired of playing these games!” She, then, lifted a greatly enlarged hand, almost twice the size of the creature and threw it down, striking it, and poofing it. 

She kept her fist as it was, still enlarged and holding down the shards. Rage in her eyes, she turned to the Yellow Pearl that was still caught in her grasp. 

“How do we bubble it?!” She screamed at the defenseless Pearl. 

“I don’t know,” cried out the Pearl. 

Spinel tightened the coils of her arm, causing Yellow’s Pearl to cry out in agony.   
“Those aren’t the answers I want to hear.”

“I swear! Only the Diamonds know how to bubble gems!”

Spinel held her enraged stare onto the Yellow Pearl, tightening her grip a little bit more before finally giving up, realizing that it was hopeless to try and find an alternative when the creature couldn’t be bubbled.

She released Yellow’s Pearl, who immediately went running out the door, and wound herself back up. She looked over to Pink Pearl’s gem that was lying right beside her and went to it. She plopped herself down onto her knees and picked it up with a sigh. 

“I’m so sorry, Double P.” She closed her first over the gem and held it to her chest, casting her eyes to the ground in defeat. 

She was surprised to feel a hand on her shoulder. She turned her head to see Blue’s Pearl giving her a reassuring smile.

“It’s okay,” she said to Spinel. “She’ll be back in no time. This  _ is  _ her first reform, though, so it might take a while.”

She had spoken too soon, however, because as soon as she said that, Pink Pearl’s gem began to glow and levitate right off of Spinel’s hand. 

Spinel and Blue’s Pearl looked up in astonishment,  as she began to take form, her light going through her previous form before dimming at her new form.

Her hair retained its pink color, but her buns on the side of her head were completely unfurled and hung down in long wavy pigtails that extended just below her shoulders. She now wore a dark magenta leotard that left an opening for her gem in the shape of a heart and had short, wavy sleeves that extended just to the ends of her shoulders. On her arms she had pink dress gloves that extended up to her elbows and her tulle skirt was now silky and with a magenta color that matched Spinel’s shorts. It was also much longer, the front part of it extending to her knees and the back part now at her calves. Her legs were bare aside from her hot pink thigh-high boots that had block heels at the feet. 

The only thing about her that hadn’t seemed to change was her facial structure. She had still retained her cracked eye. 

She was brought down, slowly, as fresh sparkles surrounded her form. 

Spinel was astounded. She had stars in her eyes. Her new form looked… beautiful. 

“I hope I wasn’t gone  _ too  _ lo- Oh!”

Relieved to see her again, Spinel ran up to Pink Pearl and wrapped her in an embrace.

“You took the hit to protect me,” said Spinel, squeezing her before cupping her hands on Pink Pearl’s cheeks, saying, “Don’t you do that again!”

Pink Pearl laughed as she cupped Spinel’s cheek in return, saying, “I wasn’t just going to let it get you.” She stroked her other hand over one of Spinel’s pigtails. “You’re too important.” She cupped her other cheek. 

Spinel smiled before rubbing her thumb on the side where Pink Pearl’s eye was still cracked. “Your eye…” She thought it would be safe to assume that her eye would have gone back to normal after having gained a new form.

“Yeah,” Pink Pearl responded. “I decided to keep it that way.”

Spinel was puzzled, furrowing her brows, realizing keeping the eye was her choice. 

“I like to see it as a reminder.” She looked off to the side, placing her hand over Spinel's. “We can’t change the past or what it did to us, but that doesn’t mean we can’t move on from it.” She smiled, looking back up at Spinel. 

“Yeah,” said Spinel, smiling back, bringing her head closer to Pink Pearl, “A very pretty gem told me that, once.”

Pink Pearl blushed and began to giggle, before getting lost in Spinel’s eyes as Spinel got lost in hers. Their faces were less than an inch apart. It was as if some force was pulling them closer to each other… and closer… and closer… 

“It’s beginning to reform,” said Blue’s Pearl, passively. 

The pair turned both their heads in the direction the creature was taking form. They looked at each other, nodded, and got into their fighting positions, prepared to take it on once again.

The creature had only just reformed, ready to charge at them again, before an electrical force zapped it, causing it to poof, once again. Spinel and Pink Pearl were baffled where they stood until Blue’s Pearl had bowed her head, giving her salute as she said, “My Diamond.”

The pair turned around to see Yellow and Blue Diamond glowering over them by the door.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Y'all already know that Yellow Diamond's Pearl would 100% be THAT BITCH.
> 
> So, someone actually made fanart for Pink Pearl's new form in this chapter which had me super flattered and excited!!  
I just HAVE to give credit to them for it. Check it out here => https://maryheart22.tumblr.com/post/188010964602/found-again-chapter-5-protect-shankress


	6. Promise

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Spinel makes a promise.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Stayed up until like 3am working on this last chapter so if i misspelled or weirdly wrote a scenario i'm sorry in advance, but i'm still running on 5 hours of sleep lol.  
This chapter is twice as long as the rest, but I thought I'd give it that good ol' finale vibe and kick it off with a long closing chapter.  
This is my final contribution to Spinearl Week. Enjoy!

Yellow walked over to the cluster of gem shards and picked it up, bubbling it in her hands as Spinel stood with her arm out in front of Pink Pearl in a protective stance. 

“What is the _ meaning _of this,” said Blue, furiously, through clenched teeth. Spinel was abashed where she stood. She had never seen Blue so angry before. 

Without missing a beat, Yellow’s Pearl came from behind with a smug look on her face. 

“It’s like I told you, my Diamonds. These two released the monster. They are the cause of all this chaos."

"Thank you, Pearl," said Yellow, irritably, dismissing her. Her Pearl had left the room with Blue's Pearl as they made way to the ballroom. 

Yellow Diamond turned to the pair who were both frozen where they stood. 

"Now, Pearl," she said, looking down at Pink Pearl, not acknowledging her changed form in the slightest. "I need you to be completely honest with me. None of that foolery you used to do with Pink." She cleared her throat, trying to keep a level head for Steven's sake. "Did you two enter the forbidden hallway?"

Though, she had no need for it anymore, Pink Pearl came from behind Spinel, took a couple steps forward, gave her the Diamond salute and bowed her head. "Forgive me, my Diamond. I had no idea it was forbidden."

"It was _ dark _," bellowed the Diamond. "That alone should tell you there's no reason to go down that way." She sighed, placing her hand to her forehead. "That Agate told us she saw a Ruby enter her ship with a human child. From the zoo. She said she saw you two running around the halls before that as if you were ready to cause mischief. You weren't even heading back to the ball. Even with Pink, you had a habit of getting into such immense trouble. What are we going to do with you?"

Pink Pearl pursed her lips, ashamed and afraid. She bowed her head and gave the salute, once more, repeating, "Forgive me, my Diamond."

"Oh, enough of that," said Yellow, pausing for a pensive moment. "What were you even doing there, to begin with?"

"It was my fault," Spinel blurted, raising a hand, taking the blame. 

"Spinel, what are you doing?" Pink Pearl whispered. 

"Don't worry about it, Double P," Spinel whispered back. "I promise I’m not gonna let them get you again." She seemed to still have her doubts about the Diamonds. 

"What are you talking about?" Blue Diamond asked Spinel. 

"I was the one who saw the hallway. I decided to enter it. I'm the one who told her to open the door." She looked to the shards enclosed in the bubble, closed her fists, then looked back to the Diamonds. 

"and… I'm the one who let that thing out of its bubble."

Yellow Diamond put two fingers to her chin in thought. It stayed this way for a moment. The suspense was unbearable. 

Finally, with a click of her tongue, Yellow said, "Oh, Pearl. Look what you've done to _ her, _ now."

Spinel widened her eyes. "What? No! It wasn't Double P. It was-"

"You're just as bad of an influence to her as you were to _ Pink _." She sighed. "What other hijinks will ensue at the cost of the safety of gem-kind?" 

Blue placed a hand on Yellow's back to grab her attention. She began whispering in her ear. They spoke in mumbles to each other which Spinel was able to decipher. She could tell they were deciding the fate of the Pearl. Blue had told her that Steven would obviously not want her to be shattered, so maybe they could bubble her, but he also did have them release all the Rose Quartz gems they had bubbled, so that wouldn't work either. Then, Blue had spoken a little too loudly saying, "Do you think…" she whispered, lowly, but Spinel knew exactly what she was talking about… 

Rejuvenation.

Spinel shook her head, widening her eyes. 

Yellow replied, "We couldn't possibly... Unless…" 

They both turned to look at the Pearl which caused Spinel to break out a gasp and dart her head toward her before they began to whisper again and she darted her head back to them to see them nod in agreement. Spinel grabbed onto Pink Pearl's hand, squeezing it until the Pearl turned to look at Spinel who brought her head to her ear from behind her. 

"Do you trust me," asked Spinel.

"Spinel-" Pink Pearl began, trying to tell her not to try anything stupid, but Spinel cut her off. 

"Do you?" She asked again, sternly. 

Pink Pearl drew out a sigh, knowing there was no other choice in the matter. "Yes," she told her. 

"Then you know you have my word," said Spinel as she coiled her arm around Pink Pearl so she could then stretch her leg through the space in between Yellow Diamond's legs, making her way out the door with Pink Pearl, much to the two Diamonds' surprise. 

Spinel carried Pink Pearl as she ran down the hall until they got far enough where she was able to put her down. 

"Come on," Spinel said, holding out her hand. Pink Pearl grabbed it and they ran together. 

"What are you doing?" asked Pink Pearl. "Are you trying to get yourself shattered?"

"I'm a gem of my word," replied Spinel. "I'm not going to let them take you away."

Pink Pearl smiled at her and Spinel smiled back until, suddenly, she was hit by Yellow Diamond's destabilization ray. Pink Pearl stopped in her tracks as Spinel cried out, the ray taking her form until it disappeared in a poof. 

“Spinel!” Pink Pearl dropped to her knees, both her hands placed over her mouth in disbelief. 

Yellow and Blue Diamond had approached her, Blue with a melancholic expression over her face. Yellow was still holding the bubble in her hand, which she had given to Blue. 

“Take this over to White, will you Blue? We’ll have to find somewhere else to put it while the door is being repaired.”

Blue nodded and began to walk away with the bubble. 

“And Blue,” called out Yellow, to which Blue turned around. “Bring her here, while you’re at it. We’re gonna need her for what we’re about to do.”

Pink Pearl started to heave panicked breaths as she moved her hand over to grab hold of Spinel’s gem. 

“You can stop right there, Pearl,” said Yellow. “I know I don’t have to try and use the same method on you. You’ll actually listen to reason, won’t you?”

Pink Pearl, hopelessness in her expression, cast her eye downward in defeat and brought her head down as she held out Spinel’s gem over to Yellow. 

***

She had been here before. She already knew how it went. She had to get back as soon as possible. She knew she had to get back before the Diamonds did something terrible to Pink Pearl. She was tired, however, not quite bearing the energy to come out. Yellow’s strike had really done a number on her. Her old form was now gone. She needed to conjure a new one. 

So she did, and soon enough, she emerged from her gem, her light going through her two previous forms before dimming on her new one. 

She was the same, but different. Her gem was turned right side up again, her shirt was the color of Pink Pearl’s hair. Her sleeves were more rounded again as well as her boots. Her shorts had suspenders attached to them that matched the color. The lines running down her cheeks were gone but she still had black underneath her eye and over her eyelids. She was the same, but different. She was a whole new gem now. 

When she reformed, she was back in her room, having reformed right on top of her bed. She was alone for a moment until she saw the Pebbles start to appear from all around her, saying, “Spinel is back!” They all proceeded to climb on top of her in excitement to which she started to giggle. 

“Hi, guys,” she laughed. “Yeah, I missed you guys, too.” She laughed with them for a moment until she gasped in the realization of where she had left off.

“Oh, no!” she exclaimed, grabbing onto her pigtails. “I promised her I wouldn’t let her get taken!” She groaned and smacked the heel of her palm on her temple. “Oh, it’s just like me to get myself poofed like that!” She looked down to the Pebbles who had moved down to the bed after being startled by her outbursts. “Do you guys have any idea where she could be?”

The Pebbles all shook their heads, some of them giving their ‘nos’ and ‘sorry Spinels’, to which Spinel groaned and buried her face in her hands. 

Then, she heard the door slide open behind her and raised her head out of her hands in an excited gasp.

“Double P!” she exclaimed before turning around and taking in, yet another gasp to find that it had indeed been Pink Pearl, but not the same Pink Pearl she had seen last. 

She had both her eyes and the same look as when they had met. She had been reset. 

“No,’ said Spinel in disbelief. “No,” she repeated as she got up from her bed to approach her. “No. No. Nononononono. It… It can’t be. It-”

“Forgive me for intruding,” said the rejuvenated Pink Pearl with a bow and a salute, cutting her off as she ignored her concerned state. “My Diamonds had wanted to see the status of your reformation.” 

“Double P,” said Spinel, her voice cracking as she placed a hand on Pink Pearl’s cheek. Tears began forming in her eyes as she said, “Please. Please, don’t leave me.” She grabbed the other cheek and pulled her face closer to hers so their foreheads touched. “Don’t leave me, alone.” Spinel wept and started to sob. “I’m lost without you... Please.”

Pink Pearl removed Spinel’s arms from her face. “Excuse me, but that is inappropriate gem behavior.”

Spinel became so devastated from that response that she belted out a scream and grabbed Pink Pearl by the shoulders, proceeding to shake her. 

She was enraged at the Diamonds for this. She wanted to seek vengeance on them, to hurt them like they had now hurt her. She now had the option to do that to the people who wronged her than to take it out on those who didn’t deserve it. The Diamonds definitely deserved it and they weren’t going to just up and disappear like Pink did, so she had her chance with them. She…

She realized this is exactly what she was trying to recover from. She knew she had to hold onto her vow to be a better person. She couldn’t just go back to her old ways. It’s not what Pink Pearl would have wanted and, deep down, it’s not what _ she _wanted for herself. 

She collected herself and removed her hands, saying, “I can’t believe they did this to you. You didn’t deserve this. It was _ me _ . _ I _ came into your life and ruined everything. _ I _ made us ditch that ball. _ I _ wanted to go to that zoo. None of this was your fault! Why would they punish _ you _ for it?!” She raised her hands in the air, then saw her vacant expression and brought her arms down as she let them unwind all over the ground and sighed, realizing she was taking out her frustration on no one. “You don’t have a single idea what I’m talking about. None of this even matters to you.”

Pink Pearl began to smile. “It does matter,” she said, and for a split second, Spinel had hope, until she followed with, “If you would like me to think it does.” 

“Good grief!” Spinel turned around to shoot her wound-up hands up in the air once more. “What am I gonna do?” 

Suddenly, she remembered something. There was a way to get her memories back, she just needed to put together the pieces of her memory. 

So, she tried everything she possibly could. She asked the Pebbles to sing the song they played to honor the fusions and asked the Pearl to dance with her, to which she was reluctant to do, but did anyway. She did the dance the exact same way she taught her, but that didn’t work. With a close eye, making sure they weren’t seen by the Diamonds or their Pearls, she swept through the halls with her and went through all the rooms with her again, stopping at the window and showing her the zoo orbiting the nearby planet. The Pearl had only questioned what was so important about it. Spinel took her to the Ruby to try and get her to the zoo and show her around, but the Ruby had told her that they were no longer permitted to enter the zoo, much to Spinel’s aggravation. 

Finally, she took them back to her room wherein she would confide in her about Pink Diamond, once again, retelling her side of the story in hopes that it may jog her memory about her own experience with Pink.  
It didn’t. 

Eventually, she ran out of options and became so frustrated that she ended up punching the ground in frustration. Pink had taken 6000 years of Spinel’s existence, but that was _ nothing _now, compared to what the Diamonds just took from her. 

She knew the only thing to do now was to face them and find a way to confront them for what they had done. If they were really so ‘merciful’ and ‘peaceful’ now, they would, at the very least, hear her out. 

Spinel tried to be calm as she could when she approached the Diamonds as they sat on their thrones, but something within her couldn’t contain the rageful emotions that stirred. 

“Haiiiii, my Diamondsssss,” she stomped over to them with a sarcastic smile, waving, as she entered the throne room. 

“Spinel,” said White Diamond. “You’ve finally emerged! How wonderful.” She put her hands together in excitement. 

“Love the new look,” said Blue Diamond. 

“Oh, ya like it?” Spinel stretched out her suspenders with her thumbs. “Yeah, I specifically like the top, myself. Remind you of anyone you know?”

The Diamonds fell silent.

“No? Well…” She looped her arm around the rejuvenated Pink Pearl who had followed behind her and placed her, firmly, in front of her. She undid the buns in her hair and scratched at her scalp to help let it all fall down in a wavy mess, then gestured her hands to her head. 

“How about now?” She grinned, though the rage was still prominent in her eyes. 

“Spinel-” began Yellow as she tried explaining what had to happen and why. However, Spinel did not let any one of them speak further. 

“NoOoOOoooohohoho, that’s right! We don’t mean _anything _to you!” She stayed with the smile on her face, sarcastically tapping on her forehead like she had just said something dumb. “_We_ were only created to serve _you_! Stars _forbid _we question authority or make a single mistake even if we had no control over the consequences!” She laughed as she spoke, then kept laughing. She had all but lost her sanity at this point. 

“That’s quite enough, Spinel,” said Yellow, but Spinel kept on, pacing back and forth looking to the ground as if someone should be writing this down.

“And _ once _ we’ve fulfilled our Diamond given purpose, when we’re not useful to you anymore, we’re _ tossed _aside and left to rot while you continue to go out and replace us with “better gems”-”

“Spinel! That is enough!” Yellow yelled, standing from her throne with balled fists.

“No!” she asserted, turning back to Yellow with her own balled fists. 

With one impulsive move, Yellow blasted her destabilization ray from her open palm, but Spinel was quick to dodge it, bouncing from her feet to her head away from the hit like a slinky, giggling.

“You can’t hurt me anymore,” Spinel declared. “Nobody can.” She wasn’t playing anyone’s games anymore. This time, everyone was playing _ her _ game and she was going to play by her _ own _rules.

“Spinel, you need to cease this behavior at _ once _.” Though she had instant remorse in firing the beam at her, she still needed to assert herself and make it clear to her that this was no way for a gem to behave.

“Hmm…” She placed a finger to her chin and looked away in thought, sarcastically, before immediately saying, “No,” with a smugly given smile. 

“We only did what we had to in order to ensure the freedom and peace is kept amongst all gem-kind,” Yellow kept debating. 

Spinel broke out into laughter, once again. “What ‘_ freedom’ _ ?” She air-quoted. She stretched herself back to Pink Pearl, placing a hand on her shoulder and shaking her as she said, “What _ ‘peace’ _?” 

Yellow fell silent, once again. 

Spinel brought her head down, looking to the ground, her fist balled up. 

“From the moment I left that garden, no one has been free.” She looked back up to the Diamonds. “Nobody’s been at peace. Everyone likes to act like it, but who are they fooling? Who are _ you _fooling by telling everyone that ‘peace has been established’ when this is living proof that we have fallen far from that fact than ever before?!” 

White Diamond chuckled, turning her head to whisper to Blue, “Clearly, she missed out on Era 2.” They both laughed. 

Spinel scoffed, shaking her head. “I shoulda known better with the likes of you Diamonds. You’re all the _ same _!” 

It was as if Spinel’s words kept the Diamonds frozen where they were, unable to move a muscle or say a single word in their defense. They could only listen in realizing how serious she really was about this. 

“Pink was selfish and cruel, and you guys are no different!” She scoffed, once more. “‘Era 3, the era of peace and freedom’. What a _ joke _ , if I knew one. And I do I’m like the _ master _at them.” She sighed, shaking her head as she looked off to the side, then over to Pink Pearl who, even with her hair compromised, still stood poised and ready for her next command. 

Spinel looked on at her wistfully, heartbroken. 

The Diamonds had all stared at Spinel with dropped jaws, tears beginning to form in their eyes as they had come to the realization that they had allowed history to repeat itself. They were doing the same thing to Spinel as they had done to Pink all those centuries ago. They never got the chance to fix things with her before she was gone forever…

… but with Spinel, they had that chance. They wouldn’t let her slip away from them like Pink did.

Spinel blinked a couple of tears away as she brought her gaze back down to the ground before turning around, having nothing more to say to the Diamonds, not caring what they would say or do to her in response to all that as she began to walk away. 

“Spinel, wait!” called out White Diamond, raising her hand out.

Spinel stopped, remaining where she stood. 

“We understand now,” said Yellow. “How important she is to you… How important you _ all _are to the empire.”

“Without our gems,” said Blue, “We wouldn’t have a place to _ call _our empire.” 

“Mistakes will be made,” said White, “but if we really are the perfect empire we wanted to create, we will find a way to push through and rebuild, no matter what happens, no matter _ who _is the cause of it.” 

Spinel started to smile until she remembered there was one loose end to tie in all of this that didn’t make her so quick to trust them again.

“That Pearl said something,” she began, ‘about that monster we fought being ‘a match for Steven’?” 

“Yes,” said White, ashamedly. 

Blue sighed. “That was our very first gem experiment for The Cluster.”

Spinel tilted her head in confusion. “The… Cluster?” 

The Diamonds then went on to explain the Cluster and its purpose on Earth, much to Spinel’s confusion. They explained everything to her, the whole story, not missing out on any details. 

“When that Pearl said it was supposed to be ‘a match for Steven’,” said Blue, “She meant it was supposed to be a match for Rose and whatever was left of her or her rebellion as well as the home they had built there."

“But Rose was Pink Diamond all along,” conformed Spinel.

“Yes,” said Yellow, “but we hadn’t known that, then.”

“It was a different time,” said White. “We hadn’t known any better about Pink… or about Steven. We couldn’t even separate the two, until…”

“... until White removed Steven’s gem,” Yellow added. “Pink had not emerged from it. She truly was and is…”

“... gone,” Blue finished. 

Spinel looked down, dejected. _ Pink really was gone forever _. She stood with that confirmation circling her head for a moment, that bitter fact.

“We have made so many mistakes,” said White, “when we thought we were only doing what was best for our empire. For our _ planet _.”

“We have, long since, learned from them,” said Yellow.

“We are still learning,” Blue corrected, “though, it’s not as easy as we thought.”

“It seems there is still so much to learn,” White concluded, “and it appears that not all of it has to do with Pink or Steven or the Earth. There is still much to be learned… from here.”

“We want to be better, Spinel," said Yellow. 

“We promise to try harder,” said Blue “if that’s what it takes.”

“_ Whatever _ it takes,” said White “You have our word we’ll commit to it.”

Spinel looked back up to them, letting her lips curl up into a smile. Yes, like Pink, the Diamonds had once been cruel, but, unlike Pink, they are picking up the pieces while they still can, leaving nothing to ruin. 

“Very well said, my Diamonds.”

Spinel turned her attention to the rejuvenated Pink Pearl that still stood, bereft of her memory. She had almost forgotten she was still reset. 

She, quickly, turned her attention back to the Diamonds. “Can you change her back?”

The Diamonds were hesitant to answer. Spinel’s face went crestfallen. 

“Unfortunately,” said White. “the power of rejuvenation was never made to be reversible.”

Spinel shook her head. “That’s not true. Steven figured out a way to undo it.”

“Then you’ll have to do it _that_ way,” said Yellow.

“But…” she turned to Pink Pearl, distraught. “... I tried. I tried reconnecting all the pieces of her memory by reliving our experiences together in all the time we’ve known each other.”

“Did you try everything,” asked Blue, “as it had happened before?”

“Yes,” she said “I-”

That’s when she realized she hadn’t done it _ exactly _like before.

So, with help from the Diamonds, she relived each memory with her, in chronological order. With the Diamonds permission, she was able to actually enter the zoo with her, to which she asked the tribe of humans to perform a ritual for them again, to which they were happy to oblige. The Pearl was still vacant, but had “fun if you would have liked me to, my Spinel”. 

They ran through the halls. Spinel had shown her the forbidden hallway and, even though the entrance was currently under repairs, they entered the room where the bubble was being kept. Spinel popped it with Yellow standing by the door to poof it when necessary. The creature charged at Pink Pearl, but Spinel punched it away. When the creature came charging at her, Pink Pearl simply yelled, “Watch out for that rabid gem,” before Yellow had to poof it. 

Finally, they held a ball in the throne room. Spinel let Pink Pearl stay lost in the crowd while the same songs had played all around them. They danced the same dance. Nothing seemed to be happening. 

Then, in a flash, Pink Pearl looked from watching her feet up to Spinel who did the same. They managed to get lost in each other’s eyes again as the slow song began to play. They danced their way through it like they had done before, dancing their way from within the crowd circle until it closed and the song ended, Spinel spinning herself around like a top before almost toppling the Pearl over, catching her in a formal dip. 

They stayed that way for a moment and, for a moment, Spinel could have sworn she saw that same sparkle in her eye as the Pearl began to smile. 

For a moment, Spinel had hope.

“That was so much fun, my Spinel. What would you like me to do for you next?”

“_ Ugh _!” Spinel cried out, punching the ground right beside Pink Pearl’s head, causing the whole room to fall silent as she made a dent in the floor. 

“That’ll be all, everyone,” said White Diamond with a few quick claps, dismissing everyone else in the room, aside from the pair and the rest of the Diamonds.

Everyone had dispersed as Spinel held her fist to the ground. 

When the room had cleared, she brought them both back up, letting go of the Pear and beginning to pace the floor.

“What am I _ missing _ ? We did practically _ everything _ ! I took you practically _ everywhere _ ! Oh, it was so _ easy _ for Steven and all of _ his _ friends to get their memories back and go back to normal, but what else am I supposed to do? I’ve known you for _ hours _ . I wasn’t _ there _ when you had all that fun with Pink and became the gem you were when you met me and she isn’t here, _ now _!” Spinel sighed and cast her head down, repeating, softly, “She isn’t here, now.” 

The Diamonds watched on from their thrones. Empathetic, their eyes began to water. Blue tried holding back her tears, but the moment was beginning to get too fragile to hold it together. 

Spinel looked back up to a vacant and willing Pearl. Not Pink Pearl, just a Pearl. 

“If she _ is _ your final piece, not even Steven can bring her back. She’s gone. Forever. She can’t help us anymore _ if she was even any help, to begin with _!” She yelled that last part, throwing out her arms to Pink Pearl, each hand perfectly spaced apart from each side of her head. 

“I could be of help!” said the reset Pearl. “It’s what I was made for, my Spinel.”

Hearing ‘my Spinel’, would’ve probably flushed her cheeks with red if she hadn’t been so frustrated. She bent her fingers with a frustrated “Urrrgghhhh!” and drew her hands back, bringing one up to cover her mouth as she closed her eyes in thought. 

At this point, there was an endless realm of possibilities as to what her final piece could be. Spinel was willing to spend the rest of her existence trying to figure it out if she had to…

… but she didn’t _ want _to. It hurt too much to see her like this. 

Spinel opened her eyes, placing a hand on the Pearl’s cheek on the side of her face where the crack in her eye once was. 

“My Spinel,” said the Pearl. “This is not appropriate gem-”

“_ Gem behavior _,” Spinel mimicked her. “I know. I don’t care.”

The Pearl furrowed her brows, trailing her vision off, pensively.

“Pearl,” said Spinel, bringing the Pearl’s gaze back to hers. Spinel rubbed her thumb over her cheek, feeling sudden discomfort in seeing both her eyes looking back at her. “If you’re in there, I need you. I need you to come out. Please.”

Spinel placed her free hand on her other cheek and pulled her face close so their foreheads would touch. She closed her eyes.

“Before I met you, I thought I was found. Turns out, I was wrong. I was _ so _ wrong. I was still _ very _ lost. Then, you came through that door and we went on this great adventure and you showed me wonders of which a gem with my history could have only ever _ dreamed _of. You found me. I’m a better gem now because you showed me that, even though we can’t change the past, we can look forward to what waits for us in the future… and follow that…”

The Pearl had begun to close her eyes as Spinel had opened them, still looking to the ground.

“Even if we bent a few rules, we were having fun. It didn’t matter what the Diamonds thought… It… never mattered, what they thought… and that’s why you loved Pink so much, isn’t it? She showed you that... Helped you realize you were your own gem before you even knew it.”

“No, Spinel…” 

Flummoxed by what she just heard, Spinel brought her head back as she felt Pink Pearl’s hand over her own that was still on her face. 

Spinel saw that same warm smile and sparkle in Pink Pearl’s eye before she placed her other hand on Spinel’s cheek, saying, “_ You _ did.”

Spinel’s eyes lit up as her jaw dropped in an enormous grin. “Doubl-”

Before she could finish calling out her nickname in excitement, Pink Pearl grabbed onto one of Spinel’s suspender straps and pulled her in for a kiss before her form began to get consumed by her light and go through each of her three forms. As her light transitioned through these forms, she held the kiss until her light dimmed upon reaching her last form. 

They both pulled away from the kiss, Spinel’s cheeks redder than the color. 

“_ Whoah _,” she said, never having experienced anything like that before, as she came to find was the case for a good majority of things Pink Pearl helped her experience. 

Pink Pearl giggled. She loved that about her. 

Spinel began to stumble, dizzily, until she began to fall forward, but Pink Pearl locked arms with her.

“Whaddaya call that?” Spinel asked, looking up at her. 

“It’s how humans show affection,” she replied. “I’ve always wanted to try it.”

Spinel collected herself, regaining balance as she stood straight. “I like it!” she exclaimed. “Let’s do it again!”

Pink Pearl giggled as Spinel leaned in for another kiss.

Spinel held her face, once more.

“Please don’t leave me, again,” she whispered to her as their foreheads touched.

Pink Pearl brought her head down, so their eyes were at the same level as she responded, “I’m not going anywhere,” then went to kiss her forehead before telling her, “I promise.”

In that moment, as Spinel was wrapped in the embrace of the Pearl, she looked over to the Diamonds who marveled at her over her happiness, admiring her as Spinel closed her eyes and smiled, feeling, in that moment, completely and truly found, again.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I've had SOSOSO much fun this week writing this story. I didn't expect to get so much recognition for it!
> 
> Thank you so much to everyone who left a kudos, comment, or bookmark! I'm glad my story was able to reach and touch the hearts of so many people. 
> 
> Follow me on tumblr: @shankress


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